A group of local firefighters pivoted when the pandemic hit to help in the fight against COVID-19. Their Lake County business is creating custom testing and vaccination trailers for counties across the country. Adapt and overcome: that is a motto firefighters say they live by. When COVID spiked in the U.S. the first time, a northwest suburban small business stopped making fire safety simulators and started building out mobile units for testing and eventually administering vaccines. A UV light system self-sanitizes the units. "We're seeing a collaboration of agencies from the public health agency, to the public safety agency, to emergency management, all working together, because no one had one solution for the problem. So, they're able to work together and pool their resources to have an asset like the health incident trailer that allows them to then be able to do COVID testing and vaccination, use it as a point of distribution for PPE and other equipment, but also use it as an incident command down the road with health safety protocols," said Christopher Gantz, JHB Group CEO.  

The Buffalo Grove Village Board voted to approve a three-year contract with its firefighters union that includes a 2.5% increase in firefighters' pay in the first year. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, which runs through April 2023, firefighters would see a 2.52% increase in compensation in the first year, while lieutenants' pay would bump up 2.0%. A newly starting firefighter would earn $66,466, while the starting pay for a newly promoted lieutenant who also is a paramedic would be $113,900, according to the contract trustees approved Nov. 2. Wage increases in years two and three of the contract will be negotiated separately through a wage reopener. Negotiating the contract in the midst of the pandemic was not easy, Buffalo Grove Director of Human Resources Arthur A. Malinowski Jr. told the Village Board, as the two sides had difficulty being able to meet in person.  

The Joliet City Council will vote Tuesday on a contract to hire an outside company to collect fees for fire department calls ranging from fires and car accidents to hazardous material spills. Joliet residents will not have to pay the fees if their insurance companies do not cover them, but out-of-towners will be charged regardless of whether they are covered by insurance, Assistant City Attorney Chris Regis told the council Monday at a workshop meeting. There also is a clause allowing the city to charge people who engage in "reckless acts" such as setting fires, Regis said. Joliet already has the ability to collect fees on such incidents but should collect more under the contract with Fire Recovery USA, he said. "What this program is designed to do is recover money already out there being offered by insurance company coverage that exists," Regis said. "We are apparently not recovering what we should by nationwide standards."  

The Manhattan Fire Protection District's fire station will stay closed to the public through Dec. 1 following an increase in coronavirus cases throughout the region. "We at MFPD take the health of our employees and our community very seriously," the fire district said on its official Facebook page. On Dec. 1, MFPD officials said it would determine whether to reopen the station, which is at 100 Park Rd. in Manhattan, to the public or extend the closure until further notice. This temporary closure only applies to visitors, in-person public education and community events. Fire crews will still be staffed at the fire station around the clock as well as responding to 911 calls, fire district officials said. Although the fire district will not be able to offer in-person car seat inspections, CPR classes or station tours for the time being, it will still offer these services virtually, according to the fire district. Subscribe  

Eight firefighters were swept into Lake Michigan during a dramatic rescue attempt late Sunday, Nov. 15, on the south pier at Pere Marquette Park. Nine firefighters were injured. One suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized. The search resumed Monday morning for the body of Lance Jenkins, 29, of Fruitport Township. He was swept off the pier with two others who got back to the pier. Waves reached 12 feet, with wind gusts over 50 mph. The first rescuers on scene saw the man clinging to rocks on the north side of the pier at the Muskegon channel. Two firefighters approached from the beach while four others got into a rescue boat. Waves pummeled the pier as firefighters on shore made their way out. They made several tries to reach the victim before one of them was swept off the pier into the water. The firefighter was injured but managed to get back to the pier.  

A veteran firefighter in Arlington County, Virginia, is breaking barriers as she rises through the ranks. Tiffanye Wesley is the first African American woman named deputy fire chief in all of Northern Virginia. "You can do anything that you put your mind to. I mean, look at what we're looking at in America today having a African-American female as vice president-elect," Wesley said. Wesley has been with the Arlington County Fire Department for 26 years, and has worked in just about every capacity there is, including on the bomb squad. Two years ago, she became the first African American woman battalion chief in Northern Virginia. "I love to be able to inspire, especially woman, to just know that you can come into a male-dominated profession. It's a very difficult profession, but you can do it," Wesley said. Chief David Povlitz says she was a top choice.  

You don't know what you don't know. Hornell Fire Chief Frank Brzozowski didn't know what to expect a year ago today, when the department was toned out for a fire on Preston Avenue in the city. Each call is treated as a structure fire until proven otherwise, though most don't keep firefighters busy for long — a small oven fire that tripped a smoke detector, perhaps, or maybe leaves burning in a backyard. The latter certainly seemed like a possibility on that sunny fall afternoon, a good day to be outside getting a few final chores done before winter. It was a Sunday, and the Buffalo Bills were in the midst of building a big lead over the Dolphins. Chief Brzozowski was home when the call came in. "My first intuition was it's just another call, and we can usually handle them pretty easily," Brzozowski recalled. "When I came up over the overhead behind the fire station I could see the column of smoke in the air, so I knew we had something that was more significant than just a small fire."  

A group of local firefighters pivoted when the pandemic hit to help in the fight against COVID-19. Their Lake County business is creating custom testing and vaccination trailers for counties across the country. Adapt and overcome: that is a motto firefighters say they live by. When COVID spiked in the U.S. the first time, a northwest suburban small business stopped making fire safety simulators and started building out mobile units for testing and eventually administering vaccines. A UV light system self-sanitizes the units. "We're seeing a collaboration of agencies from the public health agency, to the public safety agency, to emergency management, all working together, because no one had one solution for the problem. So, they're able to work together and pool their resources to have an asset like the health incident trailer that allows them to then be able to do COVID testing and vaccination, use it as a point of distribution for PPE and other equipment, but also use it as an incident command down the road with health safety protocols," said Christopher Gantz, JHB Group CEO.